1909. CoLGAN. — Dublin Marine Biology. 173 



Zostera. I have not observed this green colouring in any 

 specimens of the species gathered on brown sea-weed. 



In the River, Eolis Drununondi and Elysia viridis were again 

 taken, one specimen of each. 



Skerries Bay and Islands. 



As alread}' mentioned at the opening of this report, the 

 writer took advantage of a month's holiday spent at Skerries 

 in July last to do some shore collecting and to make a couple 

 of dredging trips. While wading across to Shennick's Island 

 at low water on this first day at Skerries, twent^^-six large Sea 

 Hares {Aplysia hybrida) were observed crawling about the 

 roots of Chorda filum in less than a foot of water. A gravel 

 causeway or mussel-bank, submerged at high water, stretches 

 from the island towards the mainland, and on either side of this 

 bank are small Zostera beds. In one of these a single speci- 

 men of the rare Eolis Farrani was taken, a species which does 

 not appear to have been recorded for the Dublin coast since it 

 was added to the Britannic fauna from Malahide by Alder and 

 Hancock in 1843.^ 



July 2nd. — Some tufts of Cladophora rupestris gathered in 

 pools on Red Island yielded several specimens of Limapontia 

 nigra, showing this species to be distributed all along the 

 Dublin coast. At low tide I again waded across to Shennick's 

 Island, accompanied by my nephew, chiefly wdth a view to 

 observing the Sea Hares. Keeping about 50 yards apart, as 

 we crossed and closely scanning the sands and low-growing 

 sea-weeds around us, covered only by a few inches of clear 

 unruffled water, lit up by brilliant sunlight, we found, on 

 comparing notes when we reached the island, that our separate 

 counts of Aplysias made a total of 300 individuals. 



A grand invasion of Sea Hares had evidently taken place 

 since the day before, the animals having, no doubt, come in 

 with the tide from deeper water to w^hat is, probably, a favour 

 able breeding ground. Nearly all of the individuals were of 

 large size, some fully up to 7 inches long while in motion and 

 the average little less than 5 inches. It was an almost un- 

 canny sight to see the creatures crawling steadil}' shorewards 

 over the tawny sands, with leporine ears erect, or lying in 

 strings amongst the soft 3'ellow sea-weeds. In colour, the 



^ Aim. and Mag. Nat. Hist., xiii, p. 161. 



